Metal Magnitude

Slayer + Lamb of God + Behemoth = One Monstrous Tour

March 26, 2017March 26, 2017ChelseaNews

Slayer, Lamb of God, and Behemoth…what a tour for those who like it heavy, and this might just be one of the heaviest. Six full weeks across North America gives plenty of opportunities to get yourself into this pit – if you dare. Here’s a full listing of tour dates:

JULY

12 Sanford Center, Bemidji, MN
13 Rock Fest 2017, Cadott, WI (Slayer and Lamb of God on this bill)
15 Rock USA 2017, Ford Festival Park, Oshkosh, WI (Slayer and Lamb of God on this bill)
16 Chicago Open Air Festival, Toyota Park, Chicago, IL (Slayer, Lamb of God and Behemoth on this bill)
18 Express Live!, Columbus, OH
20 Red Hat Amphitheater, Raleigh, NC
21 St. Augustine Amphitheater, St. Augustine, FL
23 Electric Factory Outdoors, Philadelphia, PA
25 Blue Hills Bank Pavilion, Boston, MA
27 Theater at Madison Square Garden, New York, NY
28 Pier Six Pavilion, Baltimore, MD
30 Municipal Auditorium, Nashville, TN

AUGUST

1 Providence Medical Center Amphitheater, Bonner Springs, KS
2 1stBank Center, Denver, CO
4 The Joint, Las Vegas, NV
5 The Forum, Los Angeles, CA
9 Bill Graham Civic Auditorium, San Francisco, CA
11 The Cuthbert Amphitheater, Eugene, OR
12 WaMu Theatre, Seattle, WA
14 Encana Events Center, Dawson Creek, BC Canada
15 SMS Equipment Stadium, Fort McMurray, AB Canada
17 KettleHouse Amphitheater, Missoula, MT
19 Isleta Amphitheater Albuquerque, NM
20 Comerica Theater, Phoenix, AZ

Tickets have been on sale since March 3rd and you can find them via Slayer’s official website: https://www.slayer.net/tour.

Within The Ruins Announce Tour on the Heels of a New Record

March 24, 2017March 26, 2017ChelseaNews

Within The Ruins recently teamed up with Loudwire for an exclusive reveal of their music video for the track “Objective Reality”. Halfway Human is the LP that holds this track, a release from Good Fight Music / Entertainment One (eOne) in North America and SPV overseas. The band’s very own studio provided the setting for the recording of this album, led by guitarist Joe Cocchi, then it was mixed and mastered by Joshua Wickman at Dreadcore productions. Album artwork and design was done by Justin Kamerer. Within The Ruins spent most of February and March on tour in support of the record, and it looks like more dates are to come later this spring. This tour date listing for the “Saved By The Breakdown” tour was posted on the band’s social media this week:

Within the Ruins has also been announced as part of the lineup for the Ieper Hardcore Fest in Belgium in August. Halfway Human is available to order in physical form (along with a good amount of merch) here and digitally here.

Rex Brown Solo Album On The Way

March 24, 2017March 26, 2017ChelseaNews

You probably know him from Pantera, but maybe you know him from Down, or Kill Devil Hill – whatever the case may be, one thing for sure is you’ll be hearing something brand new from Rex Brown this year. He’s inked a deal with eOne and has already revealed plans for a debut solo EP. Full details are still yet to come, but what we do know is that it will be the first time we’ll see Rex Brown as both the lead vocalist and guitarist in a band, and tracks have already been laid down. He tracked lead vocals, rhythm guitars, and bass, working with his primary collaborator and old friend, Lance Harvill, a Nashville-based guitarist and songwriter. Drums were tracked by Christopher Williams (who’s worked with Accept, among many others), Peter Keyes, who’s worked with Lynyrd Skynyrd, can be heard on a few tracks, and the record was produced by multi-instrumentalist Caleb Sherman.

On the upcoming solo effort, Rex says: “My motto these days is ‘Shake some shit up.’ I’ve had my ups and downs, like anybody in this business. I wanted to feel like a true artist again, where I can write and record songs without worrying about any of the bullshit. This is just something else I’m doing for fun, man. And musical Freedom. Fun has to come into it or I’m not going to do it. I’ve had a tremendous career and now I feel like I’m twenty five years old again. This has given me that freedom I needed. I’ve got so much more in me. I’m just getting my feet wet.”

Further information, including a release date, are coming soon.

The Night Flight Orchestra Release New Track

March 24, 2017March 26, 2017ChelseaNews

The Night Flight Orchestra has members of Soilwork and Arch Enemy amidst the lineup, and the supergroup of Swedes has been classified as a Classic/Progressive Rock group. From TNFO, we’ll be seeing a third studio album soon, entitled Amber Galactic. A brand-new single has already been unleashed, streaming exclusively via MetalSucks at the following link: http://www.metalsucks.net/2017/03/23/exclusive-premiere-night-flight-orchestra-midnight-flyer/. Amber Galactic is available for pre-order here: http://media.nuclearblast.de/shoplanding/2017/TheNightFlightOrchestra/amber-galactic.html and has a release date of May 19, 2017, for CD and digital download formats, on Nuclear Blast.

The Night Flight Orchestra lineup:

Björn Strid – vocals
Sharlee D’ Angelo – bass
David Andersson – guitars
Richard Larsson – keyboards
Jonas Källsbäck – drums
Sebastian Forslund – guitars, percussion

Obituary Streaming New Self-Titled Album

March 20, 2017March 22, 2017ChelseaNews

Death Metal legends Obituary have a lot going on between the release of their new album, a music video to go along with it, and the start of a tour. Relapse Records is the label through which their self-titled 10th studio album has been unleashed, and the entire thing is available to be streamed on Obituary’s Bandcamp page which can be found here, as well as on all streaming services. The page also includes links to lyric and music videos for several tracks off the album.

The latest video to hit the internet from Obituary is an animated one, called “Ten Thousand Ways To Die”. It was directed by Balázs Gróf, who also worked on another animated video by the band, “Violence”. It can be found on YouTube right here. The video plenty of humor and zombies – and what else could you ask for from a death metal video? Here’s what the band has to say about it:

“We are so stoked about the new “Ten Thousand Ways To Die” Video. We knew even while making the “Violence” video from the Inked In Blood release that there would be a continuation video to follow. It just goes to show once again that this band is not afraid to have a good time and laugh at ourselves. Balázs is an amazing artist and captured the band’s characters and personalities perfectly in both videos and we are so excited to get the reaction from the Obituary fans.”

Streaming for free is great, but we all want to support the metal bands we like too, right? Obituary is available in CD, LP and Digital form and can be ordered via the label’s website: http://www.relapse.com/obituary-obituary/

Obituary has also set off on their way across the US, embarking on the Decibel Magazine tour alongside Kreator, Horrendous, and Midnight. The full listing of tour dates can be found on the band’s official website.

Xandria, Kobra and the Lotus, and Once Human to Tour North America

March 18, 2017March 18, 2017ChelseaNews

German Symphonic Metal band Xandria will be taking the US and Canada by storm in May, when they headline a tour for the first time in North America. They’ve just released their seventh studio album Theater of Dimensions (available through Napalm Records) which was highly anticipated as their first full-length record in three years. Two videos have also been released for the singles – a lyric video for “We Are Murderers (We All) feat. Björn Strid of Soilwork” and a music video for “Call of Destiny“.

Kobra and the Lotus and Once Human are Xandria’s labelmates on Napalm Records, and both bands will be the support for this tour, accompanying the symphonics with some heavy, thrash, and death metal along the way. Here’s what Xandria has to say about it all: “We are super excited to go on our first ever North American headline tour in May, playing east to west coast, along with the wonderful Kobra and the Lotus as well as Once Human. Let’s get these places rocked!”

As the band says, they’ll be moving from East to West, kicking off the tour on May 9th in New York and closing it off on May 30th in Phoenix. The full listing of tour dates is below:

May 9 – New York, NY – Webster Hall
May 11 – Quebec City, QC – La Source de la Martiniere
May 12 – Montreal, QC – Foufounes Electriques
May 13 – Toronto, ON – Garrison
May 14 – Cleveland, OH – Agora Ballroom
May 16 – Joliet, IL – The Forge Club
May 18 – Denver, CO – Moon Room
May 19 – Colorado Springs, CO – Black Sheep
May 20 – Salt Lake City, UT – Metro Bar
May 22 – Seattle, WA – Studio Seven
May 23 – Portland, OR – Hawthorne Theater
May 24 – San Francisco, CA – DNA Lounge
May 26 – Las Vegas, NV – Adrenaline Sports Lounge
May 27 – San Diego, CA – Brick By Brick
May 29 – Los Angeles, CA – The Regent Theater
May 30 – Mesa, AZ – Club Red-Mesa

For more info on Xandria, the album, and the tour, visit http://www.xandria.de and their Official Facebook page.

Metallica Brings WorldWired to the UK and Europe

March 16, 2017March 16, 2017ChelseaNews

The release of Hardwired…To Self-Destruct has seen a whirlwind of tour dates from Metallica in support of the album. A North American tour spanning the Spring and Summer has already been announced, and now as of today, the band has revealed that they’re embarking on a European Arena Tour starting in September. Metallica has already done some dates across the world to support Hardwired…and promised Europe they’d be back later this year. That promise is being kept, and then some, since this huge tour will even continue on into 2018. Norway’s Kvelertak holds the support slot for WorldWired.

Tickets are on sale for Fan Club members on March 21st, while the general public can get them starting March 24th. North American ticket sales all included a copy of the Hardwired…To Self-Destruct album in physical or digital form, and now European audiences will get the same treatment. The band will also be offering special packages and experiences that include everything from memorabilia to meet-and-greets. The full listing of tour dates can be found on Metallica’s Official Website, through which tickets will be available as soon as they go on sale.

All That Remains to Unleash some “Madness” In The US

March 14, 2017March 15, 2017ChelseaNews

March Madness may be all around us, but the real madness comes about in April for All That Remains. April 28th marks the release date of their eighth studio album, “Madness”, and a US tour in support of it has just been announced, including some special guests.

Korn, Five Finger Death Punch, The Devil Wears Prada, Fozzy, Kyng, and Sons of Texas will all be joining All That Remains on select dates throughout their tour. They’ll start things out with a festival date in Florida on April 29th and close it off with a trip to Long Island on May 25th.

All the tour dates are listed in the official poster above, and further info and tickets can be found at the band’s official Website.

Two official audios have been revealed so far to give a sneak peek of the record. One showcases the heavier side of the Metalcore band, the single “Safe House”, while the other has more of a hard rock vibe, the title track’s lyric video “Madness”. Both can be heard below.

Tool Announces North American Tour

March 13, 2017March 15, 2017ChelseaNews

Photo via Tool's official Facebook Page — Photo via Tool’s official Facebook Page

A small tease of a possible tour was enough to keep Tool fans on their toes, checking the band’s website and social media for an official announcement. As if the word of a new album on the way wasn’t enough to keep the anticipation high, they then announced two festival appearances, and now at last – a nice little list of North American tour dates:

May 24 – Fairfax, Virginia – EagleBank Arena
May 27 – Bangor, Maine – Darling’s Waterfront Pavilion
May 28 – Boston, Massachusetts – Harvard Athletic Complex
May 30 – Rochester, New York – Blue Cross Arena
May 31 – Hamilton, Ontario – First Ontario Centre
June 2 – Montreal, Quebec – Bell Centre
June 4 – New York, New York – Governor’s Ball Festival
June 5 – Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania – Petersen Events Center
June 7 – Clarkston, Michigan – DTE Energy Music Theatre
June 8 – Rosemont, Illinois – Allstate Arena

Some states, such as New York and Illinois, will be seeing Tool for the first time in many years on this tour. Friday, March 17th is when all the tickets will go on sale, and VIP packages are available for Toolarmy members starting Wednesday, March 15th. Tool’s website also mentions the possibility of additional shows being announced in the near future. Keep an eye on the Official Website for the latest news, including further tour dates and updates on the highly-anticipated upcoming record.

Amorphis Releases Tour Announcement Trailer

March 13, 2017March 15, 2017ChelseaNews

Finnish Death Metallers Amorphis have some “breaking news” to announce – their first return to trek across North America in almost ten years. They’ve had a few US shows here and there, yes, but nothing quite like a full-on cross-country tour.

When they hit the East Coast at first, they’ll be alongside Overkill, Nile and Swallow The Sun. But after that, Overkill and Nile will break off then Amorphis and Swallow The Sun will continue the rest of the way themselves. The most recent release from Amorphis was in 2015, Under The Red Cloud, and Swallow The Sun just had a triple – that’s right, not a single, not a double, but a triple – album release in 2016 with Songs From The North I, II & III.

Amorphis has released a short trailer showing all their upcoming tour dates as well as a few glimpses at the band behind-the-scenes. It’s available to watch on the band’s official Facebook page here. You can also keep up with the latest on the band on their official website: http://www.amorphis.net.

Original Y&T Guitarist Joey Alves Passes Away

March 12, 2017March 15, 2017ChelseaNews

Joey Alves and Dave Meniketti - photo via Dave's Facebook page — Joey Alves and Dave Meniketti – photo via Dave’s Facebook page

Y&T’s rhythm guitarist from the classic lineup, Joey Alves, has sadly passed away at the age of 63. Joey played in the band from 1974 until 1989, throughout eight studio albums including the band’s debut.
The official announcement came from Y&T frontman and sole surviving original member Dave Meniketti, who posted the following on his Facebook page:

“It’s with great sadness that I write this today. Y&T’s original rhythm guitarist, Joey Alves, passed away at 7:10 this morning at the age of 63. He suffered from ulcerative colitis and other complications that led to his passing. Joey was one of the finest rock rhythm guitarists, and I’ll always remember playing next to him chunking out those monster chords with his classic red double cutaway ‘59 Les Paul Jr. As Ronnie Montrose once said about Joey, “There are rhythm players, then there’s Joey. A class of his own…..”.

He was a fun guy who always played with attitude and conviction, and was responsible for writing some memorable riffs for Y&T over the years. His friendship and presence will be missed. This is a great loss for all the Y&T family and faithful. He now joins Phil and Leonard in rock and roll heaven.
-Dave”

Dave also posted this short message on his Twitter: “Very sad day. Y&T’s original rhythm guitarist, Joey Alves, passed away at age 63 this morning. A rhythm guitar monster & fun guy. RIP Joey.”

On With The Show is the title of an upcoming documentary on Y&T, and Dave Meniketti shared a brief clip of some footage from this documentary, featuring Joey Alves speaking about his time with the band and the bonds formed between the members. You can see the video here.

Late Night with Nicko McBrain

March 12, 2017March 15, 2017ChelseaNews

Sounds like a dream come true for Iron Maiden fans, but it’s only partially true. Maiden drummer Nicko McBrain will indeed be on a late night show, but not one of his own. Late Night with Seth Meyers’ The 8G Band often recruits guest performers from various genres of music to sit in with the house band, and Metal certainly hasn’t been overlooked (for once). Dave Lombardo from Slayer, Danny Carey from Tool, and Brann Dailor from Mastodon are just a few of the names that have brought their sticks to the stage and drummed with The 8G house band, not to mention full guest performances from bands like Anthrax and Megadeth hitting the Late Night stage in recent times.

Monday, March 13th through Thursday, March 16th will be the time Nicko McBrain spends a full four days behind the kit, starting at 12:35 AM Eastern time on NBC.

Iron Maiden is preparing to head out for the next stage of their The Book of Souls world tour. Europe will see them first in April and May, then the US gets them for the summer, in June and July. The band has also launched an initiative to prevent counterfeit, resold and overpriced tickets on the upcoming UK arena tour. This is helping to provide fans with the opportunity to get to see their favorite band at a fair and true price, and avoiding any scams. You can read all the logistics and details on the Iron Maiden official website.

The full listing of tour dates and tickets can be found here.

Quiet Riot Re-Recording Road Rage

March 10, 2017March 11, 2017ChelseaNews

Don’t you just hate it when you get done recording an album then all of a sudden find yourself with a brand-new singer? Well, that’s what’s happening with Quiet Riot, who completed an entire new album with lead vocalist Seann Nicols with plans for a spring release. But now, the band has made some changes leading to American Idol Finalist James Durbin joining together with drummer Frankie Banali, bassist Chuck Wright, and guitarist Alex Grossi to become the new frontman of Quiet Riot. As a result, all the tracks on Road Rage will not only be re-recorded with James Durbin on vocals, but completely re-written as well.

Here’s what band leader Frankie Banali has to say about the decision: “After careful consideration, with the support of Frontiers and understanding the appeals from Quiet Riot fans to have our vocalist James Durbin represented on the new Quiet Riot release, we have made the decision to move forward and have James replace all the vocals on “Road Rage” with new lyrics and melodies for a summer 2017 release. Stay tuned!”
It sounds like both the band and the label felt this was the best choice to reflect the newest lineup change, and for Quiet Riot fans, the album should be worth the wait. In the meantime, there are plenty of opportunities to catch the band on the road, with US tour dates spanning the spring through the fall.

For more on Quiet Riot, including a full list of tour dates, visit the Official Website and Facebook Page.

HIM is No More – Farewell Tour Announced

March 6, 2017March 6, 2017ChelseaNews

Photo via HIM's official website — Photo via HIM’s official website

“It’s all tears” for fans of the Finnish band that has just announced the end of a 26-year-long lifespan. HIM has been around since 1991, and amidst an illustrious career including eight studio albums, were the first Finnish band to achieve Gold status in the US. Frontman Ville Valo, guitarist Mikko “Linde” Lindström and bassist Mikko “Migé” Paananen, who originally formed the band together, have all stuck around as steady members since the start. It’s been four years since the last release, contributing to a long radio silence that’s now culminating in a final farewell.

They won’t be leaving without saying goodbye, however, as a farewell tour sits on the horizon before the group calls it quits for good. Lovers of their brand of “love metal” may want to shout “Please Don’t Let It Go”, but the following statement from Ville Valo seems to make the move final:

“After quarter of a century of Love and Metal intertwined we sincerely feel HIM has run its unnatural course and adieus must be said in order to make way for sights, scents and sounds yet unexplored. We completed the pattern, solved the puzzle and turned the key. Thank you.”

The upcoming farewell tour will span the summer and fall with a few months’ break in between, and this gap might just leave room for some US dates to be announced. So far, the schedule shows that they’ll be covering a lot of ground in Europe then spending a brief time in the UK, topping it all off in London in December. The full listing of tour dates announced to date can be found below:

June 14 – Barcelona, Spain – Razzmatazz
June 15 – Madrid, Spain – La Riviera
June 16 – Santander, Spain – Sala Escenrio
June 17 – Porto, Portugal – Hard Club
July 1 – Helsinki, Finland – Tuska Festival
July 13 – Tuuri, Finland – Miljoonarock
November 24 – St. Petersburg, Russia – DK Lensoveta
November 25 – St. Petersburg, Russia – DK Lensoveta
November 26 – Moscow, Russia – Club Stadium Live
November 28 – Warsaw, Poland – Stodola
November 29 – Hamburg, Germany – Docks
December 1 – Berlin, Germany – Columbiahalle
December 2 – Prague, Czech Republic – Forum Karlin
December 4 – Leipzig, Germany – Haus Auensee
December 5 – Munchen, Germany – Tonhalle
December 6 – Zurich, Switzerland – X-Tra
December 7 – Milan, Italy – Alcatraz
December 8 – Koln, Germany – Palladium
December 9 – Esch-sur-Alzette, Luxembourg – Rockhal
December 11 – Amsterdam, Holland – Paradiso
December 12 – Tilburg, Holland – 013
December 14 – Glasgow, Scotland – Barrowland
December 15 – Nottingham, England – Rock City
December 16 – Manchester, England – Academy
December 17 – London, England – Roundhouse

More on HIM and the farewell tour can be found at the official website here.

L.A. Metal Summit to Bring the Sunset Strip to Tokyo

March 3, 2017March 15, 2017ChelseaNews

L.A. Metal Summit

Makuhari Messe Event Hall in Chiba, Tokyo, Japan will be the site of a groundbreaking event – the L.A. Metal Summit in Tokyo. Boasting headliners that include a former Mötley Crüe member and a reunited Ratt, the show will make for the first-ever festival focused entirely on the Hard Rock and Metal of the 80’s to take place in Japan. The current lineup for this spring festival is as follows:

May 13: Vince Neil, Tom Keifer, L.A. Guns, Faster Pussycat

May 14: Ratt, Sebastian Bach, Slaughter, Enuff Z’Nuff

L.A. Metal flyer

Faster Pussycat shared the above picture on social media that appears to possibly be a release from Live Nation. It gives a little background on the Hard Rock/Heavy Metal/Glam Metal scene that dominated the Sunset Strip in L.A. in the 80’s, then mentions that Europe and South America have always had large metal festivals, and that the US is recently seeing festivals such as M3 and Hair Nation that focus on 80’s Metal, and even an entire cruise just for the genre. The L.A. Metal Summit will be the first event of its kind as an 80’s Metal Festival in Japan.

Some bands on the lineup also have other shows going on that week in Japan, leading up to the Summit – Vince Neil and L.A. Guns will play in Osaka and Nagoya on May 9th and 11th, while Ratt and Slaughter will hit the same venues on May 10th and 12th. So far only a few bands have been announced for each festival date, but there is some small print that states “and more”, meaning this could end up being a fairly large-scale festival lineup.

If you happen to find yourself in Tokyo in May and feel like trying to reach the Summit, tickets will be going on sale on March 15th, and can be found via Live Nation Japan here.